High Court rules Crown Prosecution Service failed to protect 35-year-old

A stalking victim has been awarded �3,500 damages after the state failed to protect her when charges against her tormentor were dropped.

The High Court heard Claire Waxman, 35, from Willesden Green, endured eight years of “serious and persistent” by freelance television producer Elliot Fogel.

His campaign against Ms Waxman had taken a variety of forms, including making internet searches and storing information relating to her and her family.

However, despite the 36-year-old being charged with breaching several restraining orders the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) failed to haul him before the courts.

In light of the CPS’s decision Ms Waxman sought a judicial review at the High Court.

Today (Thursday), Lord Justice Moore-Bick awarded the compensation for the ‘alarm and distress’ Ms Waxman had endured.

He said the sum should reflect awards made by the European Court of Human Rights in similar cases said, adding: “In the light of the history of the matter and the serious effects of Mr Fogel’s behaviour towards Ms Waxman, the state owed her a duty to take proper measures to protect her and was in breach of its duty in failing to pursue the prosecution.”

Last week Fogel, who met Ms Waxman in 1991 at a college in Hertfordshire, was jailed for two years for breaching a lifetime restraining order.